Over the past 11 years, NFL Green has planted more than 280,000 trees near the sites of big games to help mitigate the effects of climate change and create a lasting legacy.
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00:00 Joining us now are Susan and Jack Rowe of NFL Green.
00:04 We are so excited you guys are here.
00:06 Thanks for joining us this morning.
00:08 Oh, good morning.
00:09 Thanks for having us.
00:09 Yeah, it's great to be here.
00:10 Absolutely.
00:11 Let's dig in, my friends.
00:12 All right, what's the mission of the NFL Green
00:14 for folks who are just getting acquainted with you guys
00:16 and maybe some projects that are underway,
00:18 some good examples?
00:19 Well, we'll skip right to the greening portion of it
00:23 because like most events these days,
00:25 we do a lot around operations, recycling,
00:27 and recovering food and everything.
00:28 But I think what really distinguishes
00:31 what the NFL does and has done
00:33 is the impact that we leave,
00:35 the permanent impact that we leave on the community
00:37 while we're there.
00:38 So we really work to leave a green legacy.
00:40 So we started way back in October.
00:43 We did 14 community greening projects,
00:44 starting by planting 58 trees for Super Bowl 58
00:47 in Henderson, wrapped up in Las Vegas,
00:49 planting another 58 trees.
00:51 This was at Las Vegas Indian Center.
00:53 We did a great habitat restoration project there,
00:56 also did two acres of habitat restoration
00:58 north of Las Vegas.
01:00 Planted lots and lots of trees, plants.
01:02 I think overall we did about 3,400 plants,
01:04 trees, flower bulbs, really had a nice impact there.
01:07 And we work with one of our major sponsors
01:09 and I'm sorry to do this,
01:11 but I have to plug Verizon because they have been,
01:13 like we've been married at the hips
01:15 of those guys for so long.
01:17 But in partnership with them over the last 11 years,
01:20 just the last 11 years,
01:22 we've planted about 280,000 trees all across America
01:26 at NFL event cities and also done over 150 projects
01:30 similar to the video that you just saw a minute ago there.
01:33 All right, we have about 30 seconds.
01:35 Unfortunately, Las Vegas is hosting the big game
01:37 for the first time.
01:38 How did you determine where the areas of need
01:41 in and around the Las Vegas community is?
01:45 Good question.
01:46 We reach out to the community to see what their need is.
01:48 The number one request in Las Vegas was for trees.
01:50 It's getting really hot there really quickly.
01:52 They need to cool things down.
01:53 So they're looking for that shade and cooling
01:55 that trees can provide.
01:56 So we did a lot of tree planting.
01:57 You know, and climate change is not gonna be solved
01:59 by planting trees,
02:00 but it is one strategy that can help address climate change.
02:04 You know, we've got to reduce carbon emissions,
02:05 but we also have to sequester existing carbon and trees,
02:09 planting trees, you know,
02:10 hundreds of thousands of them is a good way,
02:13 good strategy for that mitigation piece.
02:15 There's a lot more that needs to be done,
02:17 but you know, we're really trying to create a legacy
02:20 and do what we can in each city.
02:22 What a fantastic effort.
02:23 I love hearing the numbers too.
02:24 That is so incredible.
02:25 Susan and Jack Grove at FL Green.
02:28 We really appreciate the work you guys do
02:30 and for joining us this morning.
02:31 Thanks for being here.
02:33 Thanks for having us.